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An older gentleman was walking along the seashore one day in the hot sun. As he walked he was sweating profusely and seemed to be in a hurry! Every few steps he would bend over, pick up a starfish from the hot, burning sands and cast it back into the cool waves. One after another, after another, after another he would pick the starfish up and cast them into the water. Some would come back to the hot sand as the waves washed them back in while most would eventually go into the deeper waters of safety.

A young man came along, after having watched this for a while and told the old man, “You are wasting your time and energy. There are thousands of starfish on the sand, what difference can you possibly make?”

The old man seemed to...

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